Special abilities

Some vampires have special abilities that they gain or they are change in to a vampire. In The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, it is revealed by Riley that one in about every fifty vampires is 'talented'. "When you are human, everything is as if in a coccoon. But when you are turned into a vampire everything opens up to a better, but scarier, you."

Explanation

When a person has a skill or desire in life that is particularly profound, it gets much stronger after their transformation, and becomes a power of some sort. For example, Bella's shield originally only covered her, but after her transformation she was able to project it to cover those around her.

Eleazar has explained that every gift is unique, never working the same way twice because no one ever thinks exactly the same way. This is proven by the similarity of gifts between vampires, for example Edward and Aro, Bella and Renata, or Maggie and Charles.

It has been speculated that gifts can be passed down genetically, but influence of intrauterine environment during pregnancy and upbringing during infancy and teen years have not been assessed. Examples of abilities obtained this way include Charlie=Bella and Edward & Bella=Renesmee.

Quantifiable supernatural talents

Name	Ability	Examples
Bella Swan	Mental ShieldBella's gift is a powerful mental shield. Bella's shield is so strong that it's been working without her knowing, most likely, since birth. It protects her from "gifts" that affect the mind. Edward can't read her mind, Jane can't cause her pain and Kate can't shock her. Through practice, Bella learned she could expand her shield in order to protect others when she became a vampire, causing them to become immune to mental gifts. Although at first it was quite hard for her to maintain her coverage of others, she was soon able to cover a great distance and a large number of people with ease. Bella can expand, retract, shape and mold her gift at will; virtually blanketing herself and those she's protecting. Although much more straining to her, Bella can also lift her shield off of her mind altogether. This allowed Edward to read her mind for the first time, thus bringing them even closer.	In Breaking Dawn, Bella shielded herself and her allies in the battle against the Volturi. At the end of Breaking Dawn, Bella displaced her shield allowing Edward to read her mind.
Edward Cullen	TelepathyEdward's gift allows him to hear/see the thoughts of others. All except for Bella and to a lesser extent, Charlie. Edward can hear groups at a time, although he has stated that he has learned to drown out extra voices by focusing on one in particular. The closer or more familiar Edward is to a vampire, human, or wolf's mind the better or clearer he can hear them. A stronger bond also allows him to hear them from a greater distance, though no greater than a few miles. Like Alice, Edward's ability seems to work best with other vampires. He can also keep track of people within a few miles telepathically+	Edward found most of the minds of kids in Forks High School to be unimaginative, but couldn't hear what Bella was thinking at all. He also had the displeasure of reading Jacob's mind. In Twilight, Edward was able to save Bella from a group of men who were going to attack her because he could read what they were planning. He knew Mike, Eric, and Tyler were all going to ask Bella to the dance, but didn't know what her response would be to any of them. In Breaking Dawn, Edward used his ability while confronting the Volturi to know their plans and intentions.
Renesmee Cullen	Tactile Thought Projection & Anti-shieldRenesmee's gifts seem to be the opposite versions of her parents' abilities. She has the power to break through mental shields, and project her visions and thoughts into others by making physical contact with them.	In Breaking Dawn, Renesmee used her ability to transfer her thoughts into Bella after she woke up as a vampire, in order to let her mother know about herself. She also used her talent to show the visiting vampires her side of the story.
Alice Cullen	ClairvoyanceAlice can see into the future. She can focus in on certain people or search for certain events. Her visions aren't perfect, as the final decisions regarding the future must already be made. This makes predictable things like the weather easy for her to read. She also can't see anything involved with the werewolves/shape-shifters or vampire hybrids.	In Twilight, Alice used her ability to predict when the storm would be happening so her family could play baseball. Alice saw James in Bella's old dance studio in Phoenix, and Bella later being captured by him, once she decided to meet him there. In New Moon, Alice could see Edward's decision to provoke the Volturi but not exactly how he would do it, because he kept changing his mind. In Eclipse, Alice tells the family that the newborns are coming to fight them. In Breaking Dawn, Alice's ability allowed her to warn her family about the confrontation with the Volturi.
Jasper Hale	EmpathyJasper can feel the emotions of those around him as well as manipulate them according to his content. This power makes him very useful in preventing fights and helping people co-exist easier.	In Twilight, when Bella was stressed caused by James tracking her, Jasper felt her anxiety and calmed her down, so much that she fell asleep. When Bella first met the Cullens, Jasper helped to make everyone feel at ease during the tension filled minutes of her first arrival. Before Jasper joined the Cullens, he became depressed because he could feel the despair and pain of those he was killing. In movie adaptation of New Moon, Jasper uses his ability to manipulate Bella into agreeing to attend her birthday party at the Cullens' house. In Eclipse, the Cullens and the Quileute wolves almost got into a fight while chasing Victoria. Jasper used his power to temporarily calm everyone down. In Breaking Dawn, Jasper stayed near Bella after she had Renesmee because she was so happy and he was drawn to her positive feelings.
Aro	Tactile TelepathyAro can see all the thoughts someone has ever had upon physical contact with them. The longer the contact, the more Aro is able to see others' thoughts. Like Edward, he can't reach Bella's thoughts.	In New Moon, when Bella was in Italy, Aro attempted to hear her thoughts but failed, just as Edward cannot read Bella's mind. In Breaking Dawn, Aro uses his talent to read Edward's mind, and thus saw the thoughts he had read in everyone else's mind.
Marcus	Relational EmpathyMarcus can sense relationships between people.	In New Moon, Marcus lets Aro know about the intensity of Bella and Edward's relationship.
Didyme	Aura of HappinessDidyme had an aura that allowed her to project an atmosphere of happiness affecting all around her.	Didyme's aura of happiness that affected anyone nearby caused Marcus to become happy, and therefore he fell in love with her. Her ability also caused Didyme herself to become happy.
Chelsea	Relationship ManipulationChelsea can sense, strengthen or break emotional bonds and relationships. Though she can break the bond between allegiances, she cannot break those as strong as family or true love.	In Breaking Dawn, Chelsea attempts to break up the relationships between the Cullens and their supporters, but is blocked out by Bella's shield. Chelsea is said to be useful to the Volturi and often breaks the ties between those the Volturi is eliminating making them easier to destroy. She also makes those who Aro wishes to join the Volturi feel an affinity for them.
Demetri	Sensory LocationDemetri can find anyone anywhere in the world once he's been in their presence and "tasted" their mind. He is a million times more gifted in tracking than James, but cannot track Bella due to her shield.	At the end of New Moon, Emmett, Jasper and Edward joke about hiding Bella because Demetri won't be able to find her since her mental shield prevents him from tracking her.
Alec	Sensory ParalysisAlec creates a mist or fog which upon contact with someone paralyzes them and cuts off all, or some of their senses as he desires. This ability does not reach full effect instantly, as Jane's ability does, but creeps up on the victim.	In Breaking Dawn, Alec tries to cut off the Cullen's and their witnesses senses. It appeared as a mist, but had no effect on them due to Bella's shield.
Jane	Projection of Illusionary PainJane projects the illusion of being in extremely intense physical pain into others minds, thus incapacitating them. The pain that Jane inflicts is described as being like "burning" inside of the victim. This power makes her a highly intimidating opponent.	In New Moon, Jane used her ability on Edward who tried to prevent her from using it on Bella. This caused him to collapse on the floor in imaginary pain. In Eclipse, Jane inflicted her talent on the young vampire Bree to encourage her to tell the truth about the vampire wreckage in Seattle. In Breaking Dawn, Jane tries to inflict her gift upon Bella, but like her twin Alec, cannot pass Bella's shield.
Renata	Protective ShieldRenata causes anyone who approaches her in a way of aggression to become distracted and lose thought of what they're doing, causing them to wander off away from her. Like Bella, she can shield others. She is Aro's personal bodyguard at times of battle. She is incredibly protective of her master, and is very disturbed whenever he willingly makes himself vulnerable by saying, "master?" (as shown during the confrontation in Breaking Dawn).	In Breaking Dawn, Edward mentions Renata's ability and Bella wonders if it would work on her.
Corin	In the vampire index at the back of the Breaking Dawn novel it is stated that Corin was gifted, but her gift is still unknown.	Reference: Vampire index (Breaking Dawn)
Heidi	In the vampire index at the back of the Breaking Dawn novel, Heidi is marked as one of the gifted vampires, though her gift is unknown.	Reference: Vampire Index (Breaking Dawn)
Afton	The Vampire Index in the back of Breaking Dawn novel states that Afton is gifted, but his gift is unknown.	Reference: Vampire Index (Breaking Dawn)
Eleazar	Ability IdentificationEleazar can sense the gifts of a human or vampire both before and after his vampiric transformation.	Eleazar used to be a member of the Volturi and he would help by telling Aro which humans would become useful vampires, in other words, who also had gifts and abilities. Aro sometimes sent him across the world to look for more gifted people. In Breaking Dawn, Eleazar was the first person to identify Bella's ability as a shield even though he couldn't be specific because she was unconsciously blocking her mind from him.
Kate	Electrical CurrentKate can cover her body with an electrical current. Upon physical contact while her gift is in use, depending on the power she puts into it, the person can feel as little as static shock or great enough to cause their knees to buckle and have them on their backs. Because this talent doesn't effect Bella, the current most likely sends a signal to the brain which would be a similar effect to Jane's gift.	In Breaking Dawn, Garrett attempts to find out if Kate's current would affect him. She releases the current across her body, he touches her, and the intense current causes him to flip onto his back. In Breaking Dawn, Kate uses her talent to help train Bella to transfer her shield onto others. Immediately after Kate's sister Irina was killed in Breaking Dawn, Kate shocked three people who tried to stop her from attacking the Volturi: Rosalie, who crumpled to the ground, Emmett, who threw Kate to the ground before his knees gave out, and Garrett, who locked his arms around her causing his body to spasm and his eyes to roll back in his head as Kate shocked him.
Zafrina	Visual ProjectionZafrina can project a vision into others' minds. The vision can seem so real to the person impacted by them can easily forget that it's not real, extremely quickly. This power is most useful in clouding her target's vision.	In Breaking Dawn, while Bella was training to expand her shield, Zafrina caused the surrounding vampires to experience an illusion of blindness. When Bella expanded her shield to include vampires near to her, they were able to see again. This means that Zafrina is unable to penetrate Bella's shield as her abilities affect a person's mind, causing Bella and anyone under Bella's shield to not be affected. In Breaking Dawn, Zafrina kept Renesmee entertained by showing her pretty pictures, causing Renesmee to become very attached to her.
Benjamin	Element ManipulationBenjamin's ability allows him to physically manipulate the four elements of nature: fire, water, air, and earth. His talent is not an illusion so Bella's shield can't stand against it.	In Breaking Dawn, Benjamin practiced near the river by the Cullen's house while Bella was training by creating gusts of wind and fountains of water from the nearby river. In Breaking Dawn, Benjamin tried to prevent Alec's ability from reaching the Cullens and the witnesses. He first caused a powerful gust of wind to try and carry the creeping mist off. When that didn't work, he caused the ground to open underneath the mist. The mist was an ability that came from Alec's mind, so it was unaffected by Benjamin's physical ability, and the mist was not swallowed by the fissure.
Siobhan	Outcome ManipulationSiobhan can manipulate the outcome of a situation by wanting or concentrating hard enough on how she wants it to turn out.	During Breaking Dawn, Siobhan wished that the confrontation with the Volturi would not turn out to be a fight. As it turned out, she was correct as the Volturi left without attacking anyone.
Maggie	Lie SensoryMaggie can tell if she is being lied to.	In Breaking Dawn, Maggie comes with her coven to meet Renesmee. After Edward tells her what happens she declared that Edward spoke the truth and Siobhan and Liam believed Edward before they even touched Renesmee. In Breaking Dawn, Aro promises Renesmee that he will not hurt her family, and Maggie hisses at the obvious lie, backed up by Edward who heard Aro's other intentions.
James	Hunter/TrackerJames' senses were exceptionally far more developed than an average vampire, which gave him the power to track Bella's scent from miles away. The fact is however, that James can be fooled by carrying the same scent twice in different directions, which Edward exploited.	In Twilight, James uses his talent to track Bella and find her old home.
Victoria	Self-preservationVictoria had the instinctive need to keep herself alive. It allowed her to realize when to evade danger as well as if the place she ran to was safe or not. The meaning of the term self-preservation: instinctive need to do what is necessary to survive danger.	In Twilight, Victoria knows when to escape once the Cullens killed James. In New Moon, Victoria escapes from the werewolves multiple times when she is hunting Bella. In Eclipse she demonstrated this ability by escaping the Cullens and Quileute wolves at the same time. Bella witnessed the ability herself along with Edward during their confrontation with her. Edward angered Victoria to make her resist her survival instincts, which ultimately led her to her doom.
Charles	Truth SensoryCharles can tell if what's being said is the truth.	In Breaking Dawn, Charles gives witness that Garrett's speech was the truth before quickly leaving with his mate, Makenna.
Alistair	Sensory AttractionAlistair possesses the ability to sense any living thing and their distance in relation to him. He feels a pull in the direction of the thing he is seeking.	He could sense the enormous presence of the Volturi coming in Breaking Dawn, and fled because of it.
Fred	Illusionary RepulsionFred possesses the ability implant an illusion into those around him to make them think that he is releasing a stench so revolting that they repel from him. He can also make them feel repulsive even by thinking about him. This power is most handy in self-defense.	In The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, Raoul and his boys are about to pick a fight with Bree when Fred releases his "smell", causing most of them to flee the room while others just left them alone.

Other talents

These vampires have abilities that are not quantifiably supernatural.

Name	Ability	Examples
Edward Cullen	SpeedEdward's gift is advanced speed, running faster than any other member of the Cullens.	During the game of vampire baseball in Twilight, Edward runs through the forest to retrieve the ball. In Eclipse, Bella compares Edward's speed to Victoria's, saying 'she wheeled and flew like an arrow from a bow. But Edward was faster - a bullet from a gun.'
Rosalie Hale	BeautyRosalie's gift is incredible beauty, which even surpasses a regular vampire. She is said to be the most attractive vampire in the world.
Heidi	BeautyHeidi's incredible beauty is comparable to Rosalie's. Because of this, she would often go out to find and attract "food" for the Volturi.
Emmett Cullen	StrengthEmmett's gift is extreme strength that surpasses a regular vampire. He is the strongest member of the Cullens, if not the entire world. But his strength can be easily conquered by a newborn vampire, such as Bella when she challenged him into arm wrestling.	During the game of vampire baseball in Twilight, Esme informs Bella that Emmett hits the hardest, while Edward runs the fastest.
Carlisle Cullen	CompassionCarlisle's gift is an elevated sense of compassion that allows him to resist human blood.	He is able to bite (in order to turn them) people without succumbing to the frenzy and killing them.
Esme Cullen	LoveEsme's gift is to love those around her passionately.	She is able to welcome Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper into her home with open and caring arms; as well as Bella, a human girl her son Edward fell in love with.
Felix	Fighting & StrengthMeyer has said that Felix's talent is his fighting and strength. No matter how good anyone else is in physical combat, Felix will always remain one, or most likely, several steps ahead of them. His physical strength is pretty much comparable to Emmett's.	In the New Moon film, when Edward tried to defend Bella, Felix quickly subdues him, throwing him to the ground, cracking the floor.
Bella Swan	Self-controlBella displays high level of self-control and concentration as a newborn vampire, something that most newborn vampires aren't able to do.	In Breaking Dawn, when she caught the scent of human hikers while hunting, she manages to retain control of herself and run away from the scent while holding her breath. When Charlie comes to visit after she changed, she finds her father's smell more attractive than the hikers and yet manages to remain in control.
Garrett	Love For ChallengeGarrett has a love for taking challenges to improve himself.	In Breaking Dawn, he hears about Kate's electric current and persuades her to try it on him. The current shocks him to his knees. He shifts his diet from human to animal blood.

• Note: Some vampires may have additional special traits beyond their main ability, as with Edward's incredible speed and mastery of the piano apart from his mind-reading gift.